More from NBC

Obama's 'No Strategy' Remark Sends Team Into Damage Control

While the White House tries to do damage control, President Obama is facing a growing backlash as his foreign policy is tested on multiple fronts.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

THAN PRESIDENT OBAMA MILITARILY IN ATTACKING ISIS. LESTER.
>> KEIR SIMMONS IN LONDON, THANKS. AS WE SAID AT THE TOP, THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION FOUND ITSELF SCRAMBLING TODAY TO CLARIFY ITS POSITION ON DEALING WITH THE ISIS THREAT AND OTHER FOREIGN POLICY CHALLENGES INCLUDING RUSSIA'S INTERVENTION IN UKRAINE. WE GET MORE TONIGHT FROM NBC'S KRISTEN WELKER AT THE WHITE HOUSE. KRISTEN.
>> Reporter: LESTER, GOOD EVENING. THE WHITE HOUSE IS IN CLOSE CONTACT WITH BRITISH ALLIES TODAY AS SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS TRIED TO REASSURE AMERICANS THERE ARE NO KNOWN SPECIFIC THREATS TO THE U.S. AND NO PLANS TO RAISE THE THREAT LEVEL HERE. THIS IS THE WHITE HOUSE PLAYS DEFENSE AFTER PRESIDENT OBAMA'S RECENT REMARKS ABOUT ISIS. AS PRESIDENT OBAMA TRAVELS TO FUNDRAISERS TODAY, HIS ADMINISTRATION IS IN DAMAGE CONTROL MODE AFTER THE PRESIDENT MADE STRIKINGLY CANDID COMMENTS ABOUT TAKING ON ISIS MILITANTS IN SYRIA YESTERDAY.
>> I DON'T WANT TO PUT THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE. WE DON'T HAVE A STRATEGY YET.
>> Reporter: THE REMARKS PLAYED DIRECTLY INTO THE HANDS OF CRITICS INCLUDING THE CHAIR OF THE HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE.
>> TO HAVE A PRESS CONFERENCE TO SAY WE DON'T HAVE A STRATEGY WAS REALLY SHOCKING GIVEN THE SEVERITY OF THE THREAT. THAT'S WHAT'S SO CONCERNING TO ME.
>> THE PRESIDENT HAS LAID OUT A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN --
>> Reporter: WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY JOSH EARNEST WAS QUICK TO CLARIFY ON TV AND IN HIS DAILY BRIEFING TODAY.
>> THE PENTAGON IS DEVELOPING PLANS, OR MILITARY OPTIONS, FOR THE PRESIDENT TO CONSIDER IF HE DECIDES THAT IT'S NECESSARY TO DO SO. BUT AT THIS POINT THE PRESIDENT HASN'T MADE ANY DECISIONS.
>> Reporter: THE PRESIDENT HAS TRIED TO TAMP DOWN EXPECTATIONS THAT AIR STRIKES ARE IMMINENT IN SYRIA, A SUGGESTION LEFT BY SOME OF HIS TOP MILITARY ADVISORS WHO WARNED OF THE GLOBAL THREAT ISIS POSES.
>> THIS IS BEYOND ANYTHING THAT WE'VE SEEN. SO WE MUST PREPARE FOR EVERYTHING.
>> Reporter: THE PRESIDENT'S FOREIGN POLICY IS BEING TESTED ON MULTIPLE FRONTS AS ISIS MILITANTS ARE BOOSTING THEIR RECRUITS. NADAL HASAN, WHO KILLED 13 PEOPLE AT FT. HOOD, REPORTEDLY WROTE A LETTER TO ISIS FROM PRISON REQUESTING TO JOIN. WHILE IN UKRAINE, RUSSIAN TROOPS CONTINUE TO BUILD UP. NATO RELEASED NEW SATELLITE IMAGES SHOWING WHAT IT SAYS ARE RUSSIAN TROOPS AND ARTILLERY VEHICLES IN THE EASTERN PART OF THE COUNTRY. TODAY SPEAKING TO A PRO-KREMLIN YOUTH CAMP, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN SAID CRIMEA IS "INDISPENSABLE TO RUSSIA." IT'S BEST NOT TO MESS WITH US, HE WARNED, RUSSIA IS ONE OF THE LEADING NUCLEAR POWERS. EXPERTS SAY PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS A STEEP HILL TO CLIMB.
>> THE PRESIDENT HAS ALWAYS BEEN VERY STRONG RHETORICALLY ON ISSUES OF FOREIGN POLICY. BUT WHAT PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR NOW IS THE ACTION TO FOLLOW THAT.
>> Reporter: NOW, THE PRESIDENT CHANGED HIS SCHEDULE TODAY TO OVERNIGHT IN WASHINGTON INSTEAD OF NEW YORK. HE PLANS TO TRAVEL BACK TO NEW YORK TOMORROW TO ATTEND A PRIVATE EVENT IN THE EVENING. THE WHITE HOUSE DIDN'T GIVE A SPECIFIC REASON, BUT WITH SO MANY CRISES ABROAD, IT IS POSSIBLE OPTICS PLAYED A ROLE IN THAT DECISION. LESTER.
>> KRISTEN, THANK YOU. FOR MORE ON ALL OF THIS LET'S BRING IN OUR CHIEF FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT ANDREA MITCHELL. ANDREA, DOES THE PRESIDENT HAVE MILITARY PLANS TO DEAL WITH EITHER OF THESE CRISES?
>> Reporter: THEY ALWAYS HAVE PLANS, BUT HE'S NOT READY TO USE THOSE OPTIONS NOW. THE PRESIDENT IS CLEARLY NOT READY TO ATTACK ISIS IN SYRIA. AND HAS SAID THERE'S NO MILITARY OPTION FOR THE U.S. TO STOP RUSSIA'S MOVES INTO THE UKRAINE. TONIGHT MR. OBAMA ALSO TOLD POLITICAL SUPPORTERS AT A FUNDRAISER THAT RUSSIA IS REASSERTING THE NOTION THAT MIGHT MEANS RIGHT. THE BRITISH ARE EXPECTED TO PROPOSE A EUROPEAN RAPID DEPLOYMENT FORCE TO BOLSTER NATO'S EASTERN DEFENSES. IN HIS COMMENTS TONIGHT THE PRESIDENT ALSO SOUNDED A BIT FRUSTRATED. HE SAID IF YOU WATCH THE NIGHTLY NEWS IT FEELS LIKE THE WORLD IS FALLING APART. HE CITED THE BARBARIC OF ISIS SAYING YOUNG PEOPLE ARE ATTRACTED TO IT. TOLD NBC NEWS TONIGHT THAT FOREIGN FIGHTERS CONTINUE TO FLOW INTO SYRIA AT A STEADY RATE AND MANY OF THESE ARE JOINING ISIS. STILL, HOMELAND SECURITY SAID TODAY THERE'S NO IMMEDIATE THREAT TO THE HOMELAND AND NO NEED TO RAISE THE SECURITY LEVEL HERE IN THE U.S. AHEAD OF THE